Closings

Severe Weather

19-month-old subpoenaed for court

Published On: Apr 23 2013 01:16:02 PM EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -

A 19-month-old girl who can barely talk has been subpoenaed to testify in Sandoval County Magistrate Court.

Ashley can say her name and a few other words, so it came as a shock to her father when a deputy served subpoenas to both of them. Javier Alarcon said the deputy looked just as stunned as he was when the subpoena was delivered to the toddler.

"And the look on his face was like, 'Are you sure there's no one else by the name of Ashley?'" he said. "And I go, 'There she is.' And he says, 'I have a subpoena for her to appear in court.'"

Alarcon said he didn't know what to do, but he knew enough not to try to disobey the order.

"The subpoena says failure to comply will result in contempt of court and it's punishable by fines or jail," he said. "It's very alarming."

Alacorn said he called the District Attorney's office, who confirmed that Ashley's subpoena was a mistake. It's an error that Alarcon hopes will never happen again.

"My concern down the road, 16 years from now, let's say she gets pulled over or something and the officer tells her, 'Oh, you have an arrest warrant for failure to appear in court back in 2013,'" he said.

Copyright 2013 byKOAT.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was "very alarmed" by reports of widespread doping by track and field athletes in major competitions including the Olympic Games and world championships.

The Obama administration will unveil a major climate change plan Monday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's coal-burning power plants, a senior administration official told CNN.

As top GOP presidential candidates arrived at a hotel here to court the influential donors of the Koch network, Charles Koch called on retreat attendees to unite with him in a campaign against "corporate welfare" and "irresponsible spending" by both ...